Monday, October 13, 2008

Morning irritation

A previously unknown tape has just emerged of Winston Churchill's appearance on the Today programme in June 1944.

John Humphries (he's older than he looks): Good morning Prime Minister.

Winston Churchill: Good morning John.

JH: You have just announced that the invasion of Europe, D Day, has started.

WC: The continent of Europe will soon be free of the Nazi scourge ...

JH: It's a bit late isn't it? The Germans occupied France in 1940. What's been going on?

WC: We are libera ...

JH: Let me take you back to some earlier promises. Did you not say that you could only offer us blood, toil, tears and sweat?

WC: The Battle of Britai ...

JH: Now you are offering us victory. Surely that means celebration rather than tears? This is another broken pledge isn't it?

WC: Hitler ...

JH: And you also promised to fight the Germans on the beaches. It is clear you were talking about English beaches not French ones. Why are we fighting on French beaches?

WC: Our island sto ...

JH: Come on now, you don't mean ...

And on and on ad infinitum until bloody Thought for the Day ...

3 comments:

Brigada Flores Magon said...

Got him bang to rights there. I can't decide which is worse for the blood pressure, Humphreys as you so rightly present him or Naughtie with his thesis-length questions designed to show exactly how erudite he is...

Anonymous said...

Very good - if Humphries was interviewing Stalin I'd be on Stalin's side. My morning starts with me shouting on behalf of some politician who's forced to be polite, "Let him finish, won't you?"

Anonymous said...

Serves you all right for listening to Radio 4. Radio 7's good - classic Clitheroe kid and Mark Radcliffe's comedy profiles on sunday. Listening to Humphreys et al will just give you all high blood pressure.